Details
General
| Morphemic form: | {kiinaq}N |
| New orthography: | kiinaq, kiinnat |
| Old orthography: | kînaĸ, kĩnat |
| Sources: | [13, 17, 8, 16, 19] |
| Combinations: | View list |
| Right sandhi: | Default/none |
| Inflection sandhi: | Geminating |
| Stem type(s): | Weak q-stem |
Description and behaviour
Form and usage:
This stem has two meanings:
- 'face' of a person. This meaning is found in all dictionaries.
- 'edge' of a sharp tool, e.g. a knife. This meaning is given in older dictionaries [13, 16], but not in newer ones such as Oqaatsit [19].
According to the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary [21], the reconstructed historical form of this stem is {kəɣinaʀ}, so the first vowel is actually /ə/, which then has taken the sound [i], since it is followed by a consonant /ɣ/. However, this consonant then later appears to have dropped, thus leaving the /ə/ frozen with the sound [i]. For this reason, we record the form here as /kiinaq/, since /kəinaq/ would not yield the correct form by the sound rules. Another possibility would be to record it as /kəjinaq/, by assuming /ɣ/ were realised as /j/, which then would be unwritten in the new orthography. However, this seems needlessly complicated, so we prefer the simpler solution /kiinaq/ here.
Inflection sandhi:
This stem has non-standard gemination of /n/ to /nn/. Note also the special, archaic absolutive 4sg/sg form, kiinni, also triggering gemination.
Inflection
Declension pattern:
| Stem type: | Weak q-stem |
| Declension type: | p-declined |
| Declension sandhi: | Geminating |
| Gemination type: | n⇒nn |
| Stem before consonant | Stem before vowel | Notable forms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New orthography | kiinna | kiina | kiinaq, kiinnap, kiinnat, kiinni, |
| Old orthography | kĩna | kîna | kînaq, kĩnap, kĩnat, kĩni, |
| Phonemic orthography | kiinna | kiina | kiinaq, kiinnap, kiinnat, kiinni, |
Meanings and examples
- kiinaa, his face
[13]
- kiinnat, thy face
[13]
Of a knife, or another sharp/cutting tool.